Bechdel Test

BECHDEL TEST

In the 21st century, women are running for president, gaining more spots in congress, and advancing in society; however, in film and television, women are still portrayed in stereotypical and discriminatory ways. The Bechdel Test critiques a movie or television series’ portrayal of women. Created by Alison Bechdel in 1985, The Bechdel Test is a measure of female representation in film and television that uses three criteria for evaluating the presence and visibility of strong female characterizations. a way of evaluating whether a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women, these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man. There are variations of the Bechdel Test for other protected groups, such as the DuVernay Test, and the Vito Russo Test.  The Bechdel Test presents three questions:

Are there at least two named female characters? 

Do they speak to each other?

Do they speak to each other about something other than a male “love” interest?

The way women are portrayed in film often perpetuates a negative image; “stereotype threat research indicates that if women see themselves as continually represented in less than favorable ways in the media, then their own ability to achieve…goals towards success is undermined. In many teen films which highlight a female lead or female lead groups, the girls are often shown as aggressive, capable of stabbing their own friends in the back for the sake of a male love interests. The focus of teenage girls as aggressive social elites trying to climb the social ladder is not an uncommon portrayal of women in teen films; “research indicates that this characterization may not be representative of the true nature of female friendships. Some studies suggest that social aggression is equally common among males, and that females sometimes engage in physical aggression.” By failing to recognize this trend, teen movies rely on the stereotype that teenage girls are “mean girls,” indicating that they are the more socially aggressive gender and less likely to support other women in their quest for a male love interest. 

Research by Professor Ezzedeen (2013) states that “most women on television are Caucasian, young, thin, and portrayed in traditional roles that suggest female inferiority.” Women in media are often still portrayed as inferior beings, reporting to or being overpowered by men, playing into the stereotype that women are typically under the dictatorship of a man. In addition, female characters are designed with a greater sexual appeal and are more sexually objectified than their male counterparts. Furthermore, this trend only represents women in front of the camera and not women who work behind the scenes. According to the San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 16% of women are directors or producers. 

According to The New York Times, there is a software that analyses scripts of movies to see if the script is “equitable for men and women.” This software is meant to collect data on female interactions, their roles, and how involved they are in the plot of a film. After analysing 10 Oscar-winning movies from 2018, the software revealed that only one of the movies passed the Bechdel Test. The Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient is another software that analyses movies to see how many women are present, how many women talk, what genre the movie is, etc. After analysing more than 200 movies, GD-IQ found that only 17% of the highest grossing movies in 2015 had a female lead, and most of the female leads were comedic women. In contrast, male characters had double the amount of screen time and spoke more than female characters. In movies with female leads, the male characters spoke almost the same as the female leads, but with movies containing male leads, the female characters spoke less than the male lead.

I think the Bechdel test is important because it highlights something that says a lot about say Hollywood’s priorities, but more importantly, about subconscious values in our society. However, I personally don’t think that the lack of convincing women in movies is purely a result of mysogyny.  I think it is because in general women will watch a movie with a male protagonist, but men are less interested in movies about women. I think this is a natural thing. It’s like how women will hold hands with each other, but men would never do that. Women are more capable of gender empathy.

But then this gets blown out of proportion by Hollywood and a society with a genuine mysogynistic history into movies that are ALL about men because “that’s what the market wants.” I am a science fiction writer AND a computer game programmer, two areas that have old fashioned mindset about “women are not into games or scifi.”

This leads to a vicious circle in that it puts off a lot of women who would otherwise be drawn to those areas and might contribute greatly. The Bechdel test highlights this mysogyny (whatever its underlying causes) and gets us talking about gender inequality in fiction.

Some people may say its because movie studios are run by horrible men, while others might say it is a market driven a reflection of what society wants. I would say the truth is somewhere in the middle. Too often strong females are portrayed by busty supermodels beating up men. What I want to see is more strong female protagonists like Ellen Ripley. She runs the gamut of emotions and cries when she is grieving and kicks ass when she, or others, are in danger.